In vivo modulation of dopaminergic nigrostriatal pathways by cytisine derivatives: Implications for Parkinson's Disease

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/j.ejphar.2008.05.013

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonists are considered potential pharmacological agents for Parkinson's Disease treatment, due to their ability to improve experimental Parkinson symptomatology, reduce 3,4-dihydroxy-l-phenylalanine-induced dyskinesias an

Full text of DOI:10.1016/j.ejphar.2008.05.013

European Journal of Pharmacology 589 (2008) 80–84
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European Journal of Pharmacology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ejphar
In vivo modulation of dopaminergic nigrostriatal pathways by cytisine derivatives:
Implications for Parkinson's Disease
a
a
b
J. Andrés Abin-Carriquiry a, , Gustavo Costa , Jessika Urbanavicius , Bruce K. Cassels ,
⁎
Marco Rebolledo-Fuentes b, Susan Wonnacott c, Federico Dajas a
Department of Neurochemistry, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Montevideo, Uruguay
a
b
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
c
Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath, UK
A R T I C L E I N F O
A B S T R A C T
Article history:
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonists are considered potential pharmacological agents for Parkinson's Disease
treatment, due to their ability to improve experimental Parkinson symptomatology, reduce 3,4-dihydroxy-L-
phenylalanine-induced dyskinesias and stop the neurodegenerative process at an experimental level. In the
present work, the ability of the nicotinic agonist cytisine and two halogenated derivatives (3-bromocytisine and
5-bromocytisine) to induce striatal dopamine release was characterized in vivo by microdialysis. Cytisine,
5-bromocytisine and nicotine were much more efficacious than 3-bromocytisine in eliciting dopamine
release in response to their local application through the microdialysis probe. Moreover, the agonists were
intermittently administered before and after an intranigral injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), and
striatal dopamine tissue levels were assessed 8 days after the lesion. Both cytisine and its 5-bromo derivative
(but not the 3-bromo derivative) significantly prevented the decrease of striatal dopamine tissue levels induced
by 6-OHDA. These results suggest that the efficacy of nicotinic agonists to stimulate dopamine release in vivo
through presynaptic nicotinic receptors could be related to their potential to induce striatal protection.
© 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Received 24 January 2008
Received in revised form 18 April 2008
Accepted 13 May 2008
Available online 20 May 2008
Keywords:
Cytisine
Dopamine
Neuroprotection
Parkinson's Disease
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor
6-Hydroxydopamine
1. Introduction
tential therapeutic targets for the treatment of Parkinson's Disease
symptoms (Quik et al., 2007a, b). In addition, epidemiological studies
The motor symptoms that are at the core of Parkinson's Disease –
rigidity, bradykinesia and postural instability – are linked to the loss of
nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons (Singh et al., 2007). However, the
administration of 3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine (L-DOPA) or dopa-
mine receptor agonists, the key therapeutic strategies in use today to
improve the dopaminergic functions in Parkinson's Disease, are
unable to stop the neurodegenerative process (Singh et al., 2007).
Acetylcholine modulates the function of the nigrostriatal dopa-
mine system through multiple subtypes of nicotinic acetylcholine
receptors located postsynaptically on the neuronal cell bodies of the
substantia nigra and presynaptically on terminals at the corpus
striatum. Because nicotinic receptor activation increases the fre-
quency of firing at the neuronal bodies (Lichtensteiger et al., 1982;
Clarke et al., 1985) or causes neurotransmitter release at the dopa-
minergic terminals (Lichtensteiger et al., 1982; Clarke et al., 1985;
Kaiser and Wonnacott, 2000; Wonnacott et al., 2000; Zhou et al.,
2001; Zoli et al., 2002), nicotinic receptors are considered to be po-
have shown that smokers have a lower incidence of Parkinson's
Disease and nicotine, a non-selective nicotinic receptor agonist, has
been postulated to be responsible for this effect (Baron, 1986; 1996;
Gorell et al., 1999).
Previously, we have shown that systemic administration of nicotine
partially prevents the decrease of dopamine levels in the corpus
striatum following administration of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)
(Costa et al., 2001; Abin-Carriquiry et al., 2002; Urbanavicius et al.,
2007). As Quik et al. recently reviewed, other studies have confirmed
these results in different experimental models of Parkinson's Disease
(Visanji et al., 2006; Quik et al., 2006a, b, 2007c; Khwaja et al., 2007;
Urbanavicius et al., 2007).
Depending on the experimental paradigm, both α7 and/or α4β2
subtypes of nicotinic receptors have been described as mediating
protection by nicotine against various toxic insults in cell cultures
(Kihara et al., 1997, 1998; Hejmadi et al., 2003; Stevens et al., 2003),
consistent with a requirement for stimulation of more than one
receptor subtype for protection (O'Neill et al., 2002; Dajas-Bailador
and Wonnacott, 2004; Wonnacott et al., 2006). In vivo, although
nicotine-induced protection against experimental parkinsonian
lesions has been shown to be mediated by nicotinic receptor (Costa
et al., 2001), identification of particular receptor subtypes has not
⁎
Corresponding author. Department of Neurochemistry, Instituto de Investigaciones
Biológicas Clemente Estable, Avenida Italia 3318, 11600 Montevideo, Uruguay. Tel./fax:
+598 2 4872603.
E-mail addresses: abin@adinet.com.uy, abin.ja@gmail.com (J.A. Abin-Carriquiry).
0014-2999/$ – see front matter © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ejphar.2008.05.013

J.A. Abin-Carriquiry et al. / European Journal of Pharmacology 589 (2008) 80–84
81
been reported yet. Visanji et al. recently demonstrated that in contrast
to the non-selective agonist nicotine, subtype-selective nicotinic ago-
nists did not protect striatal dopamine terminals from a 6-OHDA insult
in rats (Visanji et al., 2006), suggesting that interaction with multiple
nicotinic receptor subtypes may be necessary to afford neuroprotection.
Cytisine, an alkaloid present in many plants of the Leguminosae
familyand a broad-specific nicotinic receptoragonist, has been shown to
protect cells in culture against toxic agents (Kihara et al., 1998; Jonnala
and Buccafusco, 2001). In this context, we recently studied a series of
cytisine derivatives in striatal slices, showing that halogenation in
positions 3 and 5 could increase or reduce respectively their potency to
induce dopamine release without significant changes in their selectivity
for nicotinic receptors subtypes (Abin-Carriquiry et al., 2006).
Given the potential of nicotinic receptor agonists as therapeutic
agents in Parkinson's Disease it appeared meaningful to extend the
characterization of cytisine and its bromo derivatives, studying their
pharmacological profile in vivo. In the present study we explored
the ability of cytisine, 3-bromocytisine (3-BrCy) and 5-bromocytisine
(5-BrCy) to induce dopamine release in vivo by microdialysis, as well
as their capacity to prevent the decline in dopamine tissue levels in
experimental Parkinson's Disease.
gery, the rats were housed individually into test cages and allowed to
recover for 24–48 h. On the experimental day, a microdialysis probe
(BAS MD-2204, membrane length=4.0 mm) was inserted into the
cannula. The location of the tip of the microdialysis probe was −7.2.
The probe was connected to a microperfusion pump and continuously
perfused with artificial cerebrospinal fluid (147 mM NaCl, 3.4 mM
CaCl2, 4.0 mM KCl) at a flow rate of 2.0 μl/min. The sample collection
(30 μl sample every 15 min) was started after a 2-h equilibration
period. Concentrations of dopamine were determined immediately
using an Epsilon Electrochemical Detector e5P with oxidation
potential set at +0.650 V (glassy carbon working electrode versus a
Ag/AgCl reference electrode). The column (Phenomenex Luna, 5 μm,
C18, 4.6×100 mm) was kept at room temperature. The mobile phase
consisted of citric acid (0.15 M), sodium octylsulphate (0.6 mM), 4%
acetonitrile and 1.6% tetrahydrofuran at pH 3.0; with a flow rate of
1.0 ml/min. The average concentration of the first three dialysis
samples was determined as baseline and defined as 100%. Nicotinic
receptor agonist solutions were prepared in artificial cerebrospinal
fluid adjusting the pH to 7.0 with HCl/NaOH and perfused through the
dialysis probe during 15 min. Doses of nicotine utilized were
according to the literature (Marshall et al., 1997; Quarta et al., 2007).
At the end of each experiment, the probe was removed and the animal
sacrificed. The brain was immediately removed, dissected and frozen
for confirmation of probe localization (Abin-Carriquiry et al., 2002).
The in vitro recovery of each nicotinic agonist was measured from a
standard 1-mM solution by HPLC-UV. Eluate concentrations of nico-
tine, cytisine, 3-BrCyand 5-BrCy were determined immediately using a
Gilson UV–Visible 118 Detector at 255 nm. The column (Phenomenex
Luna, 5 μm, C18, 4.6×100 mm) was kept at room temperature. The
mobile phase consisted of acetic acid (50 mM), sodium octylsulphate
(0.6 mM) and 15% methanol at pH 3.7; with a flow rate of 1.4 ml/min. A
similar recovery of 17% was found for the different nicotinic agonists.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Animals
Experiments were carried out using male Sprague–Dawley rats
(230–260 g). Animals had access to food and water ad libitum, and
were housed in groups of six in a temperature-controlled environ-
ment on a 12-h light/dark cycle.
Experimental procedures were approved by the Committee on Ethical
Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the Instituto de Investigaciones
Biológicas Clemente Estable in accordance with the National Institutes of
Health guide for the care and use of laboratory animals.
2.5. Intranigral injection of 6-OHDA
2.2. Materials
6-OHDA lesions were provoked by the injection of 6-OHDA into the
substantia nigra as previously described (Costa et al., 2001). Briefly,
animals were anaesthetized with halothane (Halocarbon Laboratories,
River Edge, NJ, USA) and placed in a D. Kopf stereotaxic frame. Through
a skull hole, the needle (0.022 mm o.d., 0.013 mm i.d.) of a Hamilton
syringe (5 μl) was attached to a micro-injection unit (D. Kopf), and was
lowered to the right substantia nigra (H, −4.8; L, −2.2; V, −7.2 from
bregma, according to the atlas of Paxinos and Watson). A total of 2.0 μl
of a 6-OHDA solution (3 mg/ml) prepared immediately before use, was
injected over 1 min and the needle was slowly withdrawn, allowing
the drug to diffuse for another 4 min. Body temperature was main-
tained at 37 °C using a temperature control system (Costa et al., 2001).
Control rats for 6-OHDA lesions were injected with 2 μl vehicle
(artificial cerebrospinal fluid with 0.2% ascorbic acid).
Chemicals for high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
analysis, artificial cerebrospinal fluid and saline were purchased from
Baker (Phillipsburg, PA, USA). Dopamine (hydrochloride), 3,4-dihy-
droxyphenylacetic acid, 6-OHDA, (−)-nicotine tartrate, and L-ascorbic
acid were obtained from Sigma (St. Louis, MO, USA). Chlorisondamine
was donated by Novartis Pharmaceuticals (NJ, USA).
2.3. Cytisinoids
Cytisine and its derivatives were obtained as previously described
(Houlihan et al., 2001; Slater et al., 2003) and used as the hydrochloride
salts. Briefly, cytisine was purified from the seeds of the Mexican plant
Sophora secundiflora using standard methodology. Bromination of
cytisine with a slight excess of molecular bromine in acetic acid led
to the formation of a mixture of products containing a small amount of
3,5-dibromocytisine and mainly 3-BrCyand 5-BrCy. These were separated
by column chromatography on silica gel, crystallized to homogeneity, and
characterized by 1H and 13C NMR and HREIMS. Definitive structure as-
signments were based on 1H–1H COSY experiments.
2.6. Agonists administration schedule
Rats (groups of 6–8) that had been injected with 6-OHDA (6 μg) in
the right substantia nigra received nicotinic receptor agonist or saline
subcutaneously, according to the following protocols: (1) 4 h before,
and 20, 44 and 68 h after 6-OHDA; (2) the same administration
schedule following treatment with the long-lasting nicotinic antago-
nist chlorisondamine (10 mg/kg s.c.) given 30 min before the first
application of nicotinic receptor agonist or saline. After chlorisonda-
mine administration, the motor activity of the rats decreased
showing also bilateral palpebral ptosis. These effects lasted a few
hours, with complete recovery afterwards. No other symptoms were
observed.
2.4. Microdialysis
Animals were anaesthetized with ketamine (90 mg/kg)/xylazine
(5 mg/kg) and placed in a D. Kopf stereotaxic frame. Through a skull
hole, a guide cannula (BAS, MD-2250) was implanted into the dorsal
striatum (caudate–putamen) and secured to the skull with steel
screws and dental cement. The coordinates for cannula implantation
were A/P=+0.6, L/M=+3.2, D/V=−3.2 from Bregma according to the
atlas of Paxinos and Watson (Paxinos and Watson, 1986). After sur-
The starting dose (1 mg/kg) for cytisine and 5-BrCy protection
studies was similar to the one shown to be effective for nicotine in vivo
(Costa et al., 2001). In the case of 3-BrCy, a dose of 1 mg/kg induced

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tonic–clonic convulsions that lasted approximately 5 min. These ef-
fects limited the concentrations that could be evaluated in vivo.
Since even after receiving 0.3 mg/kg 3-BrCy, animals still showed a
strong depressed motor activity and ptosis for approximately 1 h, the
doses studied were lowered (0.01, 0.05 and 0.10 mg/kg).
of three pre-drug fractions). Statistical analysis was carried out using
one- or two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for repeated measures of
the dopamine values followed by post-hoc t-test when appropriate.
2.8.2. Tissue levels
Dopamine levels in the lesioned hemisphere of each animal were
expressed as percent of the level in the unlesioned side. Comparison of
the means was performed by ANOVA followed by Tukey–Kramer
Multiple Comparison test.
2.7. Neurochemical analysis
To measure dopamine tissue levels, rats were decapitated 8 days
after 6-OHDA injection, the brains rapidly removed and the left and right
corpus striatum dissected and stored at −70 °C. On the next day tissue
samples were weighed, sonicated in 1000 μl of perchloric acid (0.1 M)
and centrifuged (15,000 g) for 15 min. Samples were then injected into
an HPLC system (PM-80 BAS, West Lafayette, IN, USA) equipped with a
C18 column (5 μm particles, 220 mm×34.6 mm; BAS, USA) and an
electrochemical detector (LC-4C BAS) with oxidation potential set at
+0.75 V (glassy carbon working electrode versus a Ag/AgCl reference
electrode). The mobile phase was composed of citric acid (0.15 M),
sodiumoctylsulphate (0.6 mM), 4%acetonitrile and 1.6% tetrahydrofuran
at pH 3.0; with a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min (Costa et al., 2001).
3. Results
3.1. Striatal dopamine release evoked by cytisine and bromocytisines
The nicotinic agonists were evaluated for their ability to evoke
dopamine release in the striatum by in vivo microdialysis following
local application via the dialysis probe. Basal striatal extracellular
dopamine levels of dialysate (1.91 0.34 nM) were similar to those
obtained in our previous studies (Abin-Carriquiry et al., 2002). Local
perfusion of nicotine, cytisine and 5-BrCy increased extracellular
levels of dopamine in a concentration-dependent way (Fig. 1). 3-BrCy
was the most potent and release was obtained already with 0.33 mM
concentrations, showing little concentration-dependence over an
extended concentration range.
2.8. Statistical analysis
2.8.1. Microdialysis
Dopamine levels were calculated from a standard solution and
values were expressed as a percentage of basal levels (individual means
The comparison of dopamine release induced by cytisine and its
derivatives at 10 mM concentrations showed that 5-BrCy was significantly
Fig. 1. Extracellular dopamine assessed by microdialysis in awake rats 24 h after the implantation of a cannula in the corpus striatum. Drugs were applied locally through the probe
and dopamine release was monitored after the application of nicotine, cytisine, 5-BrCy and 3-BrCy at different doses after three stable basal samples. Data are expressed as percent
over the basal levels (mean S.E.M.). For each dose n=4–6. ⁎ denotes significant difference against controls (artificial cerebrospinal fluid, aCSF) (⁎Pb0.05). Δ ⁎ denotes significant
difference against agonist+chlorisondamine (Chl) 1 mM (ΔPb0.05).

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83
was blocked by chlorisondamine administration. However, pharma-
cological equivalent doses of 3-BrCy (taking into account that its
potency to induce dopamine release is more than one order of mag-
nitude higher than cytisine and 5-BrCy) did not have protective effect
against the 6-OHDA lesion.
In a previous work we compared the effects of cytisine halogena-
tion at C3 and C5 on α4β2 and α7 nicotinic receptor binding, showing
that both 3-BrCy and 5-BrCy presented higher affinity for heteromeric
α4β2 than for homomeric α7 nicotinic receptors. Additionally we
evaluated their ability to evoke [3H]dopamine and [3H]noradrenaline
release in striatal and hippocampal slices, respectively, showing that
both agonists presented greater potency as releasers of [3H]dopamine
than of [3H]noradrenaline. Nevertheless, both derivatives do not differ
significantly in subtype specificity between themselves or with
cytisine or nicotine (Cassels et al., 2005; Abin-Carriquiry et al., 2006).
In recent years an important line of experimental evidence has
shown the protective capacity of nicotine in in vivo experimental
models of Parkinson's Disease, an effect mediated by nicotinic
receptor agonism (Costa et al., 2001; Visanji et al., 2006; Quik et al.,
2006b, 2007a,c). Our results suggest that the prevention of striatal
dopamine decrease is not an exclusive property of nicotine but also of
other non-subtype specific nicotinic receptor agonists. Moreover we
showed that protection afforded by nicotinic agonists is blocked by
chlorisondamine, a non-specific nicotinic receptor blocker (Costa
et al., 2001). In this sense Visanji et al. showed that neither the
modulation of α4β2 nor α7 subtypes alone appears to provide
protection in vivo (Visanji et al., 2006). Taken together these results
would suggest that broad nicotinic receptor subtype specificity would
be necessary for prevention of dopaminergic terminal degeneration.
Nicotine, cytisine and 5-BrCy, which attenuated dopamine loss
after 6-OHDA were also the most efficacious in evoking dopamine
release. This latter effect was clearly dose-dependent and was blocked
by chlorisondamine. 3-BrCy, which failed to induce protective effects
in a wide concentration range, was also the least efficacious inducer of
dopamine release. In this sense, the agonist dopamine releasing
efficacy (reflecting efficacy at nicotinic receptors) appears to be more
relevant than potency itself to induce the plastic changes on the
dopaminergic pathway.
Fig. 2. Striatal dopamine assessed 8 days after the injection of 6-OHDA (6 μg) in the
substantia nigra. Agonists (nicotine, cytisine, 5-BrCy and 3-BrCy) were subcutaneously
administered 4 h before, and 20, 44 and 68 h after 6-OHDA injection. Data are expressed
as percent (mean S.E.M.) of lesioned versus intact corpus striatum. For each treatment
n=6–8. ⁎ denotes significant difference against the control group (⁎Pb0.05). Δ denotes
significant difference against the saline group (ΔPb0.05).
more efficacious than cytisine and 3-BrCy, being 3-BrCy the less effi-
cacious (Fig. 1).
Perfusion of chlorisondamine (1 mM), a non-specific nicotinic
receptor antagonist, prevented the increase in dopamine release
induced by every agonist (Fig. 1). Chlorisondamine alone did not affect
significantly the basal levels of dopamine (1.61 0.60 nM).
3.2. Prevention of striatal dopamine decrease after 6-OHDA injection
Eight days after intranigral injection of 6 μg of 6-OHDA, there was a
significant decrease in dopamine tissue levels in the ipsilateral stria-
tum (lesioned side) when compared with the contralateral (non-
lesioned side), (Fig. 2). Control rats injected in the substantia nigra
with 2 μl vehicle did not show any difference in dopamine levels
between ipsilateral and contralateral striatum (17.5 1.7 and 17.6
2.8 ng/mg of wet tissue weight, respectively).
As reported previously (Costa et al., 2001), intermittent nicotine
administration (1 mg/kg, nicotine tartrate salt); significantly attenu-
ated the 6-OHDA-induced decrease in striatal dopamine tissue levels
(Fig. 2). Cytisine (2 mg/kg) and 5-BrCy (1 mg/kg), administered ac-
cording to the same schedule, prevented similarly the decrease of
striatal dopamine levels. In contrast, 3-BrCy (0.10 mg/kg) was unable
to prevent the decrease of striatal dopamine tissue levels induced by
6-OHDA (Fig. 2). Lower doses of 3-BrCy (0.01, 0.05 mg/kg) did not
prevent the dopamine decrease either (data not shown).
As an explanatory hypothesis, the experimental evidence suggests
that activation of nicotinic receptor leads to Ca2+ entry into the
terminal (Rapier et al., 1990; Grady et al., 1992; Puttfarcken et al.,
2000). The greater efficacy shown by cytisine and 5-BrCy inducing
dopamine release, could be associated to a major Ca2+ entry to the cell,
leading to activation of several steps in the synaptic vesicle cycle
(Smith et al., 1998; Stevens and Wesseling, 1998; Turner, 2004) and
triggering specific intracellular signalling cascades related to plastic
changes in dopamine metabolism and other key protective pathways
(Dajas-Bailador and Wonnacott, 2004).
The protection afforded by cytisine and 5-BrCy was prevented
by the prior administration of the long-acting non-specific nicotinic
receptor antagonist chlorisondamine (10 mg/kg). Dopamine levels
(expressed as percent of lesioned versus intact corpus striatum) were
19.0 3.9%, 28.3 8.7% and 20.5 8.0% for saline, cytisine and 5-BrCy
treatments, respectively.
However an indirect pathway, involving the activation of dopami-
nergic autoreceptors (Bozzi and Borrelli, 2006; Scheller et al., 2007)
could also explain the relationship between efficacy and protection.
Evidence based largely on experimental in vitro and in vivo rodent
studies is showing that dopamine agonists may have neuroprotective
properties in addition to their symptomatic effects (Le and Jankovic,
2001; Schapira, 2002). In this sense, ropinirole has been shown to
protect mouse striatal neurons against 6-OHDA toxicity, by stimulat-
ing the increase of glutathione, catalase and superoxide dismutase
antioxidant activities in the striatum, and this effect was mediated
through dopamine D2 receptor (Iida et al., 1999). Nevertheless, further
experiments are required in order to discriminate between both
mechanisms.
4. Discussion
Our data showed that local application of cytisine and its bromo
derivatives induced dopamine release in the corpus striatum, being
cytisine and 5-BrCy, as well as nicotine significantly more efficacious
than 3-BrCy.
Besides, cytisine and 5-BrCy prevented the decrease of striatal
dopamine tissue levels 8 days after the intranigral injection of 6-OHDA
in rats. To the extent of our knowledge, this is the first experimental
evidence of in vivo protection by nicotinic receptor agonists other than
nicotine. This protection was mediated by nicotinic receptor, since it
The results obtained in the present work show for the first time in
vivo, that efficacious non-selective nicotinic receptor agonists, other
than nicotine, are able to reduce striatal dopamine depletion induced
by 6-OHDA injection in the substantia nigra and efficaciously evoke
dopamine release in vivo.

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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust Collaborative
Research Initiative Grant 073295/Z/03/Z and FONDECYT Grant 1040776.
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